Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee Friday used piles of new and used books, computer equipment, and furniture stored and apparently forgotten in a school warehouse as an illustration of what she said was mismanagement robbing students of needed supplies.

But some experts were ready to have the history lessons about past failures end and the promised new day for D.C. schools begin.

It was not clear why the supplies - which included dozens of boxes of binders and notebooks still in shrinkwrap - had never made it into the hands of educators.

"What I found was shocking to me. ... These are the kind of things that can really make a difference," Rhee said, indicating that the supplies would help fill gaps in what students needed before schools open Aug. 27.

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But local education expert Mary Levy of the Washington Lawyer's Committee said Friday, "This is hardly the first time I've heard these stories. ... We just want somebody to do something about it," Levy said. "I think it's time to push it along a little bit."

It appeared that many of the books, some of which were still in boxes on pallets, were new and had been delivered to the warehouse rather than to the schools. Other books, equipment and supplies, much of which had been donated, has languished there "for years," Rhee said.

She went Tuesday to the warehouse for the first time in her two months on the job, seeking a solution to the city's textbook deficiencies. Mayor Adrian Fenty got his first view of the warehouse Friday.

"You assume when you are running a system that there are processes in place for all of this stuff to happen efficiently and effectively," Rhee said.

The items will be inventoried and moved to the schools as necessary, Rhee said. She called the stockpile a result of poor management by the central administrative office, which she has pledged to reform.

Friday's announcement was the second update from Fenty and Rhee in the past week about their progress on addressing immediate needs prior to the schools' opening day. It follows many public comments from the mayor's education team about the poor state of education in the District and why his takeover was necessary.

cmabeus@dcexaminer.com